A common trait, mostly intended for still cameras, allows the head to flip sideways 90 degrees to agree to the camera to take movies in portrait format rather than site. Often built-in is a small pin on obverse of the swelling screw that is used to stabilize camcorders. This is not creating on the more exclusive camera-friendly tripods.

More expensive tripods come with swappable heads and discretionary spiked feet for rough view, and usually feature fluid heads, which are intended to move more easily than the basic heads on reasonably priced tripods. The most luxurious of all are wooden tripods intended for use with film-based movie cameras and studio still cameras.There are also expensive carbon fiber tripods, used for applications where the tripod needs to be frivolous, such as news-gathering. Many tripods, even some relatively easy on the pocket ones, also consist of level indicators for the legs of the tripod and the head.

Many of the more expensive tripods have extra features, such as a reversible middle post so that the camera may be rise flanked by the legs, allowing for shots from low positions, and legs that can unlock to more than a few different angles